When our old dog Trevor got Lyme Disease some ten years ago, it was easy to spot the symptoms. He became lame and lethargic. We took him to the vet and he was put on antibiotics that helped immediately. In fact, our ex-vet upstate doesn’t even run tests. He just prescribes antibiotics at the first sign of symptoms because the disease isn’t that serious in dogs.

Or so we thought.

We never saw this one coming. Over the weekend we had to say goodbye to our seven year old girl, Lola. No limping. No lethargy. We noticed she was eating a bit slower until one day she just stopped eating. That was the same day we took her in. It was exactly one week from her initial vet visit to the day we had to put her down.

If diagnosed right away, Lyme Disease is not life threatening for dogs. Once it gets to their kidneys and the functions start failing, it is irreversible and the fatality rate is about 90%. This is what happened with Lola, although it is fairly rare. The hospitalization and the fluids didn’t do a thing for her. We ended up bringing her home to spend her last night with us before meeting her fate the next morning.

What can you do to prevent your dog from getting bitten by Lyme carrying deer ticks? I wish I knew. We used Frontline drops and a flea and tick collar and we still had to pull ticks off of them whenever we walked in the country. We would spot them immediately on our tan dog Greta, but Lola was black and it was impossible to get them all.

There is some controversy concerning the Lyme vaccination. It may not work. There may be side effects. In retrospect, if someone told me that my dog would only live to see seven, I would have risked the vaccine.

Lola was a tough but timid chick. She sent two of our Pitbulls to the emergency room but she was terrified of getting a bath. She once stole a bagel right out of a stranger’s hand in Prospect Park. She was a rebel.

When a pet dies, there’s always the doubt. What could I have done differently? Is this my fault? Did I overlook something? I’m going through all of that at the moment. If we had remained in the city, she would still be sitting here by my side. On the other hand, she had six years of mountain hikes, huge backyards and river runs in the country. That’s heaven for a dog. And hopefully, that’s exactly where she is right now.